Environmental Sensor for Airborne Contaminant Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need to evaluate the failure rate of microelectronic components due to environmental factors such as airborne gases in manufacturing environments, where issues like tin whiskers, creep corrosion, electrochemical migration, and metal particles can cause device failure, leading to increased costs and reliability concerns.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising test probes with circuitry to measure electrical resistance, positioned in an air flow pathway, connected to power and data storage for analyzing resistance changes, and a fan to direct environmental air across the probes, allowing for real-time monitoring and comparison against pre-defined standards to detect potential failures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If microelectronic devices are used in non-clean environments, then device reliability decreases due to environmental contamination, but maintaining clean environments increases manufacturing and operational costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by exposing test probes to environmental conditions before actual microelectronic devices are deployed. The test probes are positioned in the operational environment to preemptively detect corrosive gases and contaminants, allowing preventive measures to be taken before devices fail. This advance detection prevents contamination-related failures without requiring continuous expensive clean environment maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses test probes as intermediary elements between the environmental contamination and the microelectronic devices. These probes act as sacrificial sensors that absorb and detect harmful contaminants (such as sulfur compounds, moisture, and industrial gases) before they can reach and damage the actual devices. The probes serve as a buffer zone, allowing devices to operate in less stringent environmental conditions.
2Reliability
If environmental monitoring is implemented to detect failures early, then device reliability improves, but device complexity increases due to additional monitoring components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the monitoring function from the main microelectronic devices and places it in separate, dedicated test probes. This separation allows the monitoring system to operate independently without adding complexity to the primary devices. The test probes contain all necessary sensing and measurement components, while the devices being monitored remain simple and focused on their core functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The test probes serve multiple functions: they act as both environmental sensors and test subjects. The same probe structure that would normally be a functional device also serves as the monitoring sensor, eliminating the need for separate dedicated monitoring hardware. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity while maintaining comprehensive monitoring capability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device effectively monitors and detects changes in electrical resistance, indicating potential failures due to environmental exposure, enabling early detection and prevention of component failures, thus improving reliability and reducing costs by ensuring a clean and non-corrosive manufacturing environment.
Implementation Method 1
a test probe comprising a pair of traces and circuitry effective for determining the electrical resistance between the traces
Implementation Method 2
a fan for moving environmental air through the enclosed pathway and across said test probe
Data Source
AI summary
A device for monitoring a working environment in which electronic circuit boards are present includes: a) test circuit boards with pairs of traces and circuitry for determining the electrical resistance between the traces, the test boards being positioned in a pathway effective for directing air across the test traces; b) control elements for controlling the flow of air through the pathway and for controlling power applied to the test board traces; c) data storage for storing data relating to acceptable electrical resistance between test traces; d) circuitry for comparing measured electrical resistance between two test traces to a stored value for the acceptable electrical resistance between two test traces; and e) an output for communicating the results of the comparison between the measured electrical resistance between two test traces and the stored value for the acceptable electrical resistance between two test traces.